The Ministry of Justice refused to supplement the Criminal Code with an article on illegal enrichment

The Ministry of Justice rejected the initiative to introduce the new article “illegal enrichment” into the Criminal Code, Interfax reports with reference to the press service of the ministry. The department is confident that current legislation allows you to effectively resist theft in state posts.

The initiative of the new norm of the Criminal Code was made by the Corruption Fund under the leadership of Alexei Navalny. At the proposal of social activists, officials must annually present information about the income and expenses of all members of their family. This procedure is also charged with the obligation within three years after leaving the position.

The authors of the idea referred to Article 20 of the UN Convention to Combat Corruption. The document was ratified by Russia in 2006 only partially. The article talks about the punishment of the official, if his assets increased disproportionately to official income. It is stipulated that sanctions will follow if this difference is not reasonable explanation.

The ministry explained that the Convention obliges to fix this norm in national legislation, which is allegedly already done in Russia. The Federal Law of December 3, 2012 "On Monitoring the Compliance of the expenses of persons replacing government posts and other persons with their income" describes the procedure for tracking the expenses of a state official, his wife and adult children. Moreover, when they made a major purchase or transaction, income for the last three years is checked, the department claims.

The idea of ​​introducing criminal liability for illegal enrichment of officials received the support of more than 100 thousand Russians. Within the framework of the “Russian public initiative”, such a number of signatures is equal to the legislative initiative, and the issue should be considered the lower house of parliament.